Five most expensive Picasso paintings

1) Nude, Green Leaves & Bust - $106.5 million

Nude, Green Leaves and Bust is one of a series of portraits of Picasso’s mistress and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter.

With a vibrant blue and lilac canvas, the piece measures more than five feet tall. The painting was held in the personal collection of Los Angeles art collectors Sidney and Frances Brody for nearly six decades.

It was sold at auction for $106.5 million, a world record price. Today, the work stands as the world’s sixth-most valuable painting.

2) Garçon a la Pipe - $104.1 million

Garçon a la Pipe was painted in 1905, when Picasso was 24 years old.

The painting was created during Picasso’s Rose Period, the period where Picasso’s painting used warm orange and red shades as opposed to the cold, sombre tones of his Blue Period.

In 2004, the painting was sold at auction by Sotheby’s, New York.

The painting sold for $104.1 million, making this the world’s most expensive painting at the time.

3) Dora Maar au Chat – $95,216,000

Dora Maar au Chat, which measures 50.5 inches by 37.5 inches, depicts Dora Maar, Picasso’s Croatian mistress, sitting on a chair with a small cat perched on her shoulder.

In 2005 the owners of the painting decided to auction it with Sotheby’s. It is believed that Sotheby’s had given the sellers a guarantee that the minimum amount the painting would sell for would be $53 million.

The auction was held on 3rd May, 2005 in Sotheby’s New York salesroom. The final bid was $95,216,000 well exceeding the pre-auction $50,000,000 estimate.

4) Portrait d'Angel Fernández de Soto - £34,761,250

Portrait d'Angel Fernández de Soto, or The Absinthe Drinker, is another painting from Picasso’s Blue Period. The painting depicts Angel Fernandez de Soto, a friend of Picasso’s and a fellow painter, in a bar with a glass of absinthe.

Previously owned by musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, the painting sold for £34,761,250 at a Christie’s auction in June 2010.

5) Femme aux Bras Croisés - $55 million

Femme aux Bras Croisés (English: Woman with Folded Arms) was painted in 1902, during the Blue Period and shows an unknown woman looking unhappy with her arms folded.

The painting was sold at a Christie’s auction in New York for $55 million.